Everton manager Sean Dyche has challenged his players to find different ways to find goals and Demarai Gray did just that when coming in from the cold and starting for his new boss for the first time against Nottingham Forest. But can he prove a viable option up front for the Blues in the weeks ahead?
Despite 4-4-2 being by far his most-used formation during nine-and-a-half years in charge of Burnley, Dyche has only deployed a lone frontman so far since he took charge of Everton within a 4-5-1 set-up. Dominic Calvert-Lewin started his first game at home to Arsenal but was withdrawn after an hour due to a hamstring injury.
Since then, Ellis Simms led the line for the Merseyside derby at Anfield before Neal Maupay got the nod for the subsequent three matches against Leeds United, Aston Villa and then Arsenal away. None of these players scored but at the City Ground the Blues boss turned to Gray for his first start of his reign.
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The 26-year-old had been an ever-present under previous manager Frank Lampard this season, starting every Premier League match and even two of the three cup ties, coming off the bench to score in the other, the 4-1 Carabao Cup exit against Bournemouth. Even before the game on Sunday, he was Everton’s top scorer this term with five goals in all competitions and despite the taunts from the Forest fans that he was supposedly a 'Leicester reject', Gray, who has a Premier League title medal from his time at their East Midlands rivals, held his nerve to send Keylor Navas the wrong way from the penalty spot in front of the Trent End.
He’s therefore already one up on the other team-mates that Dyche has played up front so far in terms of finding the net, regardless of the manner in which the goal came, but with Calvert-Lewin still sidelined through injury, what does he offer in the role as opposed to Maupay, who had until now been the manager’s preferred understudy to his main centre-forward despite just netting once all season?
An examination on Comparisonator of Gray’s performance against Nottingham Forest against Maupay’s six outings, totalling 259 minutes so far under Dyche, proves illuminating. The Frenchman averages more shots per 90 minutes (3.82 to 2) and slightly more shots on target (2.23 to 2), but Gray has the edge for attacking actions (5 to 4.77) and successful attacking actions (3 to 2.54).
He is also far more willing to run with the ball with a dribble count of 3 to 0.64 producing 1 successful dribble as opposed to 0.32. Combined, these offensive parameters gave Gray an expected goals figure of 1.03 while Maupay is 0.74.
Without the ball, Maupay shades his team-mate for interceptions (1.27 to 1) but Gray is well ahead for defensive actions (10 to 5.4) and successful defensive actions (5 to 2.54). He also combined with his team-mates more effectively, with more passes (27 to 18.13); successful passes (25 to 13.36) and received passes (44 to 34.98).
Perhaps, tellingly, Gray showed himself to be much more creative in picking out others in dangerous area for the opposition as he made 20 passes to Maupay’s average of 7.63 in the final third and an impressive 19 of these were successful opposed to his colleague’s 5.09. Neither man is necessarily renowned for their heading ability, but Maupay is just ahead for aerial duels won (1.27 to 1), although Gray is well above him for offensive duels won (7 to 2.23) and defensive duels won (3 to 0.95).
While Gray might lack the defensive discipline and willingness to track back when deployed out wide, ensuring that Dwight McNeil and Alex Iwobi have so far been given the nod ahead of him as Everton’s wingers under Dyche, given the paucity of alternatives right now, he might well prove what on face value would seem an unlikely answer to the team’s striker issues for a manager who for five years went for his opposite number on the weekend, New Zealand man mountain Chris Wood.
Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.
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